Baelo Claudia — Attraction in Tarifa

Impresionante ciudad romana en un enclave único. Veo un poco de dejadez en las excavaciones ya que he vuelto 8 años después y no se ha avanzado casi nada.Por lo demás es espectacular y una visita imprescindible. Beeindruckende römische Stadt in einer einzigartigen Enklave. Ich sehe ein wenig Vernachlässigung in den Ausgrabungen, seit ich 8 Jahre später zurückkomme und fast nichts vorangetrieben wurde, sonst ist es spektakulär und ein essentieller Besuch. Impressive Roman city in a unique enclave. I see a bit of neglect in the excavations since I returned 8 years later and almost nothing has been advanced. Otherwise it is spectacular and an essential visit. Impressionante cidade romana em um enclave único. Eu vejo um pouco de negligência nas escavações desde que voltei 8 anos depois e quase nada foi adiantado, caso contrário é espetacular e uma visita essencial. Впечатляющий римский город в уникальном анклаве. Я вижу немного пренебрежения в раскопках, так как я вернулся через 8 лет, и почти ничего не было продвинуто. В противном случае это захватывающий и важный визит. Ville romaine impressionnante dans une enclave unique. Je constate un peu de négligence dans les fouilles depuis mon retour 8 ans plus tard et presque rien n’a été avancé, sinon c’est spectaculaire et une visite...

We visited the museum and the archeological site in 2010, a few years after it had opened (in 2007). At that time we were impressed. The museum building was quite modern looking with exhibition halls on two floors and - from the lower level - direct access to the ruins of this Roman city. Afterwards we recommended it to several people visiting the Atlantic side of Andalucía.

Today we were in Barbate and decided to pay Baelo Claudia another visit. We were in for a big disappointment. The place has lost its shine in every possible way. The historical artifacts in the museum have been supplemented by a collection of modern pots and pans to collect the water coming through the leaky roof. The outdoor walkways are in poor condition, weeds are growing everywhere and signs with explanatory texts have faded. It is remarkable that the onsite Roman theater is still standing proud after 2000 years while the Spanish built museum is crumbling after a measly 15 years! There is no entrance fee, but why not? With a reasonable fee there would at least be some funds available for maintenance and...

Absolutely thrilled to go here. Found it hard to get to - no one in Tarifa knew what or where it was or could recommend public transport or a day trip! In the end we hired a car from Algeciras. Road from Algeciras to Tarifa has spectacular views! This is signed from the main coast road as Balonia…. A windy road between two really high natural cliffs. It was hard to see the turning for the visitor centre and car park …. It was sharp right…. We could see some ruins and went straight to the end ( cafe) which is a dead end but you have to go all the way back and round to be greeted by the sulky and very unhelpful person on the ticket office. The ruins themselves are fantastic and the setting magnificent. Much of it is roped off but it is easy to see. When we went there were school parties in the coleseum-type ruin so it was roped off - disappointed not to be allowed close even when all the children left. It was a glorious hot day…. But still breezy. Water and suntan...